Huskers Face Lady Demons in Season Opener
The Nebraska women’s basketball team tips off its 2023-24 regular season by playing host to the Northwestern State Lady Demons on Monday, Nov. 6 in Lincoln.
Tip-off between the Huskers and Lady Demons is set for Noon (CT) at Pinnacle Bank Arena with tickets available now at Huskers.com/Tickets or by calling the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office during regular business hours (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.). Season Tickets, Starting 5 Pack and single-game tickets are all available to provide exciting options for fans to watch the Huskers in person throughout the season at PBA. Doors to the arena open Monday at 11 a.m.
A live video stream of the game will be provided to subscribers of B1G+. Nebraska fans can listen across the Huskers Radio Network, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and 590 AM in Omaha, the Huskers App and Huskers.com, as Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch team up for their 23rd season together calling the action. Pregame starts at 11:30 a.m. (CT).
Monday’s opener features the annual Nebraska Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally ahead of the game at the arena, beginning at 9:30 a.m. This year’s pep rally will include nearly 3,000 students and nearly 350 accompanying adults from more than 60 schools across Nebraska.
Nebraska opened exhibition play with an 83-47 win over Dakota Wesleyan at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday, Oct. 29. Freshman Natalie Potts led the Huskers with 15 points while adding eight rebounds off the bench. Senior Annika Stewart contributed 14 points off the bench, while newcomer Darian White made an impressive debut with 13 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
Nebraska enters the season with three returning starters, including preseason All-Big Ten selections Jaz Shelley and Alexis Markowski. Shelley and Markowski were both named to preseason national player-of-the-year watch lists at their positions last week.
Graduate guard Maddie Krull, who started 60 games in two seasons at South Dakota, before transferring to Nebraska prior to last season, joins Shelley and Markowski as returning starters. Krull made 24 starts for the Big Red a year ago. The Millard South High School grad earned her bachelor’s degree from Nebraska in August, just three seasons into her college career.
Northwestern State comes to Lincoln for the second time in school history (Nov. 28, 1994) after working its way to an 11-18 record that included a 7-11 Southland Conference mark a year ago. The Lady Demons feature three returning starters (Jiselle Woodson, Sharna Ayres, Jasmin Dixon).
Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Northwestern State Lady Demons
Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, Noon (CT)
Pinnacle Bank Arena - Lincoln, Nebraska
Special Event: Sportsmanship Pep Rally (9:30 a.m.)
Tickets: Huskers.com/Tickets or 1-800-8-BIG-RED
Doors Open to Public: 11 a.m.
Live Video: B1G+ (subscription required)
Live Stats: Huskers.com (StatBroadcast)
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (11:30 a.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (107.3 FM), Omaha (590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App
Nebraska Cornhuskers (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
22 - Natalie Potts - 6-2 - Fr. - F/G - HS
40 - Alexis Markowski - 6-3 - Jr. - C/F - 11.9 ppg, 9.8 rpg
0 - Darian White - 5-6 - Gr. - G - 14.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg
1 - Jaz Shelley - 5-9 - Gr. - G - 14.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg
42 - Maddie Krull - 5-9 - Gr. - G - 6.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg
Off the Bench
21 - Annika Stewart - 6-3 - Sr. - F - 5.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg
14 - Callin Hake - 5-9 - So. - G - 4.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg
15 - Kendall Moriarty - 6-1 - Jr. - G - 3.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg
32 - Kendall Coley - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 1.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg
2 - Logan Nissley - 6-0 - Fr. - G - HS
12 - Jessica Petrie - 6-2 - Fr. - F - HS
44 - Maggie Mendelson - 6-5 - So. - F/C - 2.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg
3 - Allison Weidner (Out) - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 10.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
Eighth Season at Nebraska (114-99); 17th Season Overall (307-208)
Northwestern State Lady Demons (0-0, 0-0 Southland)
11 - Jasmin Dixon - 6-3 - Jr. - F - 3.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg
24 - Jordan Todd - 6-1 - Sr. - C - 3.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg
3 - Jiselle Woodson - 5-5 - Sr. - G - 8.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg
21 - Mykaila Pickard - 5-10 - Jr. - G - JUCO
35 - Sharna Ayres - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 8.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Off the Bench
4 - Karmelah Dean - 5-5 - Sr. - G - 1.9 ppg, 0.8 rpg
15 - Carla Celaya (VT) - 5-11 - So. - G - 1.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg
32 - Madison Moles - 6-6 - So. - C - 1.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
20 - Jordan McLemore - 5-11 - Jr. - G - 0.8 ppg, 0.7 rpg
12 - Ivona Miljanic - 6-0 - So. - G - 0.4 ppg, 0.8 rpg
5 - Jenny Ntambwe - 6-1 - So. - F - JUCO
23 - Jordan Brown - 5-9 - RSo. - G - JUCO
25 - Nia Hardison - 5-8 - Jr. - G - JUCO
33 - Niaisya Ervin - 5-10 - Jr. - G - JUCO
1 - Jermesha Frierson - 5-7 - Fr. - G - HS
31 - Ane Astarloa - 6-3 - Fr. - C - HS
Head Coach: Anna Nimz (Pittsburg State, 2008)
Fourth Season at Northwestern State (24-51); Fourth Season Overall (24-51)
Husker Opener to Feature Life Skills Pep Rally
Nebraska’s regular-season opener with Northwestern State (Nov. 6, noon) will include the annual Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally.
The 2023 Nebraska Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally, which is co-sponsored by the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame, will feature messages from Husker student-athletes and coaches. This year, the Huskers expect 2,966 students and 348 accompanying staff members from 62 schools across the state of Nebraska.
The 2023 opener marks the fifth time (2013, 2019, 2021, 2022) Pinnacle Bank Arena and Nebraska women’s basketball have teamed with the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame to host the Pep Rally for middle grades students. The students and accompanying staff are provided complimentary water from Pepsi and pizza from Nebraska Athletics.
The Sportsmanship Pep Rally begins at 9:30 a.m. on the main court at Pinnacle Bank Arena and will feature messages from Nebraska Head Coach Amy Williams and Husker women’s basketball players Annika Stewart and Callin Hake, along with appearances by Olympian Jordan Larson and Husker Bekka Allick (volleyball) and All-American men’s gymnast Taylor Christopulos. Coaches and student-athletes from other Nebraska programs are being finalized, while world champion jump roper Tori Boggs will perform at both the rally and at halftime of Monday’s game. The Sportsmanship Pep Rally will conclude at 10:45 a.m.
A group of Valentine Middle School students will be traveling nearly five hours and just over 300 miles, making the longest journey to the pep rally for the second consecutive year. A strong representation of Northeast, Southeast and Central Nebraska community schools are also attending, including 160 from Raymond Central and well over 100 each from Centennial, Fort Calhoun, Freeman, Malcolm, North Bend Central and Seward public schools.
Scouting The Northwestern State Lady Demons
Head Coach Anna Nimz enters her fourth season at Northwestern State. The Lady Demons come to Lincoln from Natchitoches, La., after posting an 11-18 overall record that included a 7-11 Southland Conference mark last season.
Nimz and her coaching staff are no strangers to the Midwest. She played and coached collegiately at Pittsburg State in Kansas, while assistant coach Addae Houston played and coached at Northwest Missouri State. Houston spent last season as an assistant at Nebraska Wesleyan. Assistant coach Mike Brown graduated from Drake and was the head coach at Iowa Central Community College, Upper Iowa and William Penn.
On the court, the Lady Demons will be challenged to replace their top two scorers from a year ago - Candice Parramore (13.5 ppg) and Shelby Rayner (8.9 ppg) along with six other players from their 2022-23 roster.
The Lady Demons return three key starters led by guard Sharna Ayres. The 5-10 guard from Melbourne, Australia was the only Lady Demon to start all 29 games a year ago, averaging 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds, while hitting a team-best 55 three-pointers. She also connected on 92 percent (23-25) of her free throws on the season.
Jasmin Dixon, a 6-3 junior forward, joined Ayres in the starting lineup for 25 games, averaging 3.2 points and 4.0 rebounds while leading NSU with 1.0 blocks per game. Dixon hit 50.6 percent of her field goals on the year.
Senior Jiselle Woodson is Northwestern State’s top returning scorer. The 5-5 guard averaged 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and a team-best 2.4 assists last season. She also led the Lady Demons with 32 steals and connected on 36.1 percent of her three-pointers (22-61).
Northwestern State features a pair of Alaskans - senior forward Jordan Todd and junior guard Mikaila Pickard - on their 16-player roster. The teammates at Anchorage Christian High School are 4,160 miles (68-hour drive) away from home when they are in Natchitoches. NSU also has two newcomers from Spain - Carla Celaya (Montbau) and Ane Astarloa (Berriz) - and two players from New Jersey - Jordan Brown (Plainsboro) and Niaisya Ervin (Newark).
Three Lady Demons earned roster spots at their home state school, including Nia Hardison (Natchitoches) and Jermesha Frierson and Jordan McLemore (Shreveport).
Nebraska vs. Northwestern State Series History
Nebraska will meet Northwestern State in women’s basketball for just the second time in school history on Monday. The Huskers battled their way to a 70-57 victory over the Lady Demons at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Nov. 28, 1994.
Center Pyra Aarden led Nebraska with 19 points and 12 rebounds while hitting 8-of-10 shots from the field in the 1994 meeting, which was NU’s third game of the season. Tina McClain added 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, while freshman Anna DeForge contributed 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Current Nebraska Head Coach Amy Williams played one minute off the bench as a freshman in that game, wearing No. 34.
Former Nebraska baseball coach Dave Van Horn was the head coach at Northwestern State (1995-97) before leading the Huskers in 1998. Van Horn led Nebraska to three straight Big 12 Tournament titles (1999, 2000, 2001) and NU’s first two College World Series appearances (2001, 2002).
Current Husker pitching coach Rob Childress was an assistant at Northwestern State alongside Van Horn from 1995 to 1997 before coming to Nebraska. Childress was the pitching coach at Nebraska from 1998 to 2005 before taking the head coaching job at Texas A&M (2006-21). He returned to Nebraska in the fall of 2021 and resumed his pitching coach duties following the 2023 season.
Husker Nuggets
Nebraska has won 37 consecutive exhibition games dating back to an 81-58 loss to the Australian Institute of Sport at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Nov. 12, 2000.
The Huskers rolled to an 83-47 win over NAIA Dakota Wesleyan (Oct. 29) at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Freshman Natalie Potts produced 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Annika Stewart added 14 points. Newcomer Darian White contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and game highs of eight assists and four steals.
The Huskers jumped to a 14-0 lead and outscored Dakota Wesleyan 30-11 in the third quarter to cruise to victory. NU hit nine three-pointers, including two each from Jaz Shelley, Maddie Krull and Darian White.
Nebraska has won its last six exhibition games by an average of 45.7 points per game, dating back to an 88-55 win over Minnesota State-Mankato on Nov. 5, 2017.
The Huskers have hit at least one three in 464 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two threes in 343 consecutive games.
Nebraska has hit 10 or more threes 27 times in the last 73 games, including 15 times in 2022-23. The Huskers knocked down a season-high 14 threes in a season-opening win over Omaha (Nov. 7, 2022).
Through the first 20 seasons with the three-point shot in women’s basketball (1988-2007), Nebraska hit 10 threes in a game just six times (591 games).
